michaelion's reviews
288 reviews

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

3.25

Not something I ordinarily pick up. It's a very nice read. In the end the author says she doesn't know how women still find the book relevant in the 70s, but it's 2024 now and it's still relevant. It's pretty good life advice, but I think I already have the mindset expressed in the book. She was white though so I probably developed that mindset as a kid meanwhile it took her umpteen years and six children to realize it. Who knows. 
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I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

They say don't judge a book by its cover. Shame on me.

With a title like this I expected more. I was bored for a lot of it but didn't dnf because I was waiting on the hot monster. And I got a hot monster so I wasn't upset. I bought this from Target and I would've rather rented it from the library. But its mine now and I wrote all over it with a buncha hearts! I love when Black girls !!!!! And fuck it I’ll buy the sequel too!

The main issue is that she's a Black girl, an everyday person from America, trying to fit in in racist ass upper class France. Like I wanted to reach into the book and yell at her girl it's never gonna happen!!! Not that that's her fault but that's literally the only conflict. Notice how her life got better when she got a Black bestie? Yeah exactly.


Also the voice actress for the audio book Kristolyn Lloyd was so amazing I looked her up to see what else she's done. I'm so happy she's gonna read the sequel too! She gave so much life to the characters and the narration! Ugh! Finally some good fucking food! 5 stars for Kristolyn Lloyd!
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The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

At first I was like boo I’m not gonna have sympathy for the school shooter but then the writing is good enough that I did except I like that the school shooter had the awareness to know he was wrong. Love when characters are aware of their delusions. Love the parallels of the characters. Or maybe I’m thinking of the term foils. Anyway, I loved it so much. I’ll be reading whatever Douglass does next.
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Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

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informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Manic pixie dream Stargirl. Another story that only works because the kids are all white. Still, I got a lot of goosebumps. I too am that autistic girl who just doesn't understand society.
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Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo

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funny
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I giggled aplenty.
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La Ladroncita by Natalia Hernandez

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adventurous sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Read this attached to my version of The Name Bearer but logged separately bc the short story should have a different rating. 

All the besties better have backstories! It was okay, just a lil more info about the character. Nothing spectacular.
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The Name-Bearer by Natalia Hernandez

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

I didn't like the ending. It’s like the season of a show ended in the middle of an episode instead of at the end, but its okay bc we know it got greenlit for more seasons. I had an adequate amount of fun.
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Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart

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dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

A story that only works because all / the majority of kids are white. Book takes place in 6 days. 
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The Islander: A Novel by Cynthia Rylant

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  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Would've been a fine story until the age gap relationship at the end. Yuck!
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The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

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emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Adiba Jaigirdar, the woman that you are! And then I find out the art was done by Nabigal!!! 🥰 The characters felt younger than 16 but everything still works no matter the age! 
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